Tag: Jon Favreau

Can’t believe it’s been seven years ago that I reviewed the Andrew Garfield‘s The Amazing Spider-man, which I barely even remember now so clearly it wasn’t all that amazing. I think I was mostly sentimental as I was at Comic-Con Hall H when Garfield first revealed that he was playing the role (those with eagle eyes might notice me hyperventilating just inches away behind him 😉 ) but since Tom Holland took over the role in Spider-Man: Homecoming in 2017, he’s now become my favorite Spider-man. He’s a proper kid after all, while Garfield was a decade older when he was cast to play a teenager.

I’m treading as carefully as I can with this review as not to tread into spoiler territory. It is safe to say that the film takes place after the events of Avengers: Endgame, which if you still haven’t seen it by now, well this entire movie IS a huge spoiler. While Endgame has fixed Thanos’ snap in which he wiped off half the universe, those who had been gone for five years now co-exist with those who remained, the effect coined as ‘the Blip.’ The opening sequence addresses that in hilarious way (using a famous 90s power ballad) as Peter is reunited with his BFF Ned (Jacob Batalon) and they’re preparing on a school trip to Europe.

The heroic ending of Tony Stark weighed heavily on everyone, most of all Peter Parker who still misses his former mentor/father figure. Not only that, he also carries the burden of people’s expectations that he’d become the next Iron Man, which honestly, is too much for any capable man, let alone a 16-year-old boy! Yes he’s an Avenger, and at such a tender age, he’s had more than his fair share of battles. ‘Please! You’ve been to space!’ as Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) argued, but the most important thing in Peter’s world at the moment is to declare his love to his school crush. I appreciate that this movie allows Peter be a regular boy, dealing with the angst of teen angst like any other, while juggling the huge expectations of living up to the ‘with great power comes great responsibility’ mantra.

Just like its titular hero, director Jon Watts also has a huge responsibility on his shoulder the fact that Far From Home is the last movie of Phase Three of the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) while no new movie has been officially announced for Phase Four yet. I think Marvel boss Kevin Feige said Endgame and Far From Home is ‘essentially two pieces of the same story’ which has to be quite challenging to do when you’ve got two different set of directors for each film. Yet Watts managed to pull it off marvelously, keeping the tone of this movie lighthearted, humorous and fun but not without its poignant emotional moments. The fact that he has worked with Holland in Spider-man: Homecoming, they surely have a good rapport. The returning cast such as Batalon and Zendaya as MJ have a bit more to do here as well. I have to say some of my fave scenes involve Peter and MJ, who refreshingly is much more than a damsel in distress.

Jake Gyllenhaal in his MCU debut as Mysterio couldn’t be more perfectly-cast. The less said about his character the better but I could say that he and Holland have a good chemistry together. I also like that the plot deals with the themes of trust, as any good superhero would have to quickly learn, similar to the themes in Captain America: Winter Soldier in many ways. I also love that the movie deconstructed the whole superhero myth as one character said something about how people only listen to you if you wear a cape.

Clocking in at 2 hours 9 minutes, the movie didn’t have many slow moments. The action sequences are terrific. All the perilous scenarios really puts Spidey’s power to the test. The fact that Peter now has access to Stark’s state-of-the-art technology is both a blessing and a curse, which you’ll find out why when you see the movie. I still do have issues with some of the more bombastic action sequences (just way too many explosions!) but the clever plot makes it bearable. Plus I love the European locations… Venice, Vienna, Prague… oh my! There’s also a hilarious bit of Peter in the Netherlands! It certainly helps when the script is as nimble and spry as the protagonist. Screenwriters Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers turned the whole ‘saving the world from an Avengers-level threat’ upside down where nothing is what it seems. Now, my favorite Spider-man movie up until now was Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2 with Doc Ock as a fantastic adversary, but I think this one now stands as my new favorite Spidey movie.

Tom Holland is the true star here who absolutely rocks as both Spider-man AND his alter ego Peter Parker. He’s got the nimble physicality that makes him credible as a web slinger, but what I love most is how he wears his heart on his sleeve. He’s not afraid to show his feelings, be it his deep admiration for Tony Stark or his love for MJ. I have to admit that whole ‘Peter Tingle’ phrase (thanks Aunt May!) in reference to his Spider-sense is silly and cringe-inducing, but it’s a cute scene the first time it’s introduced. Marisa Tomei is wonderful as Aunt May and nice to see Jon Favreau back as Happy who now gets to look after Iron Man’s young protégé. I already mentioned about Zendaya above but I’ll say it again, I adore her MJ and I hope she gets to do more in the future Spider-man movies!

Lastly, while I can’t talk about the ending of this movie, one thing I can say is that it’s unpredictable. That is always quite a feat for any movie, let alone one of this magnitude where there’ve been so many versions in the franchise. Oh and DO stay for the end credits scenes! Believe the hype, they’re both great and the first part actually makes you wonder just what it all means for Peter Parker in MCU Phase Four. Man, we don’t even know when the next Marvel movie comes out but I’m already looking forward to it. Bring. It. On!

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How’s your weekend everyone? Well it’s been quite a whirlwind week for me, but a fun one nonetheless. I didn’t get an extra day off for Fourth of July, but still a four-day work week is better than five 🙂

I did manage to see a fun play on Friday night, a French farce called Don’t Dress For Dinner. It’s actually the opening night of the theatre company run by my lead actor Peter Hansen, in which he also starred in with five other actors.

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I also got to see one of its rehearsals last week which was really fun to see. I had never been to a play rehearsal before and the fact that it’s a comedy is even more delightful to watch. Oh as if I hadn’t been busy enough w/ my film AND Kickstarter campaign, I also helped redesign his theatre website. (yep I need a vacation real bad!)

Saturday was a hot day, so after a scorching afternoon going to Art Crank in NE Minneapolis, we cooled off watching the new Spidey flick.

I have to admit I wasn’t all that enthused to see this so if it wasn’t for my hubby’s insistence, I probably would’ve waited for its VOD release. Fortunately it ends up being a pretty decent flick which is NOT an origin story, thank goodness!

It’s fun to see Peter Parker being a proper teenager and Tom Holland is perfectly believable in the role. Some of the banters between him and his BFF Ned (Jacob Batalon) seems too cutesy with all the ‘awesome’ which at times doesn’t ring true. But as the film progressed it didn’t bother me and they do have some fun memorable moments. Our young’un hero is far more eager to be a hero than in past interpretations but I’m glad actually gets to do something heroic and does it on his own account.

I hadn’t paid much attention to this film so I was pleasantly surprised to see Michael Keaton as the villain. He’s definitely one of the best villains in the plethora of Spidey movies I’ve seen over the years. My fave is still Doc Ock (Alfred Molina) from Sam Raimi’s Spider-man 2 and Keaton’s Adrian Toomes is right up there with him. I like villains who are more of a tragic character, not an all-out monster hellbent on destroying the world. I enjoyed watching Keaton as a cross between Batman and Birdman when he’s wearing the birdlike costume, but his character actually has some depth. There’s also a pretty bizarre father-daughter storyline here that I did not see coming.

The movie starts out pretty light, Peter’s fanboy-ing over Tony Stark also gets overdone, but the movie actually grows darker with a genuine sense of dread. I am however quite puzzled by the hype over Zendaya in this movie. Not because her acting wasn’t good but her character barely registers here to even make any impact. Yes I appreciate that she’s not just another love interest but I wish the slew of writers actually gave her something to do. The movie does hint that she perhaps will have a larger role in the inevitable sequels.

Despite me feeling blasé about this reboot, this movie ends up being pretty enjoyable. There are a couple of thrilling action sequences though the finale is still way too loud & bombastic. Casting-wise, Holland fits the role nicely and he seems to have fun doing it. There are fun moments of Peter poking fun at members of the Avengers which is in keeping with him being a 15-year-old kid. It was pretty fun seeing Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) and his chauffeur/personal assistant ‘Happy’ (Jon Favreau) as part of the story too. I’m not exactly clamoring to see more of Spidey movies though, but I suppose if they gotta make ’em at least they don’t suck.

The weekend is topped off w/ my first time doing a podcast! It was fun being a guest for an episode of The Film Pasture, hosted by my friend Vern from Vern’s Video Vortex with film blogger Kristen Lopez. Vern was kind enough to invite me to discuss our picks of Top 5 Female Filmmakers and let me promote my short film Hearts Want which I can proudly say has a strong woman of color in the lead and done by a mostly-female crew.

I will post the podcast here once it’s up. As you know I’m a big supporter of women filmmakers and having just written/produced my first film, naturally I have even more respect for those who’ve made it in the male-dominated film industry.

Well, did you see anything good this weekend? If you’ve seen the newest Spider-man movie, what did you think?

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It’s been ages since I saw the cartoon version of The Jungle Book. I have to admit I wasn’t too keen on this remake idea when it was first announced, despite the amazing voice cast. But I love when films I wasn’t even anticipating end up being such a pleasant surprise, and The Jungle Book did exactly that.

There’s always something intriguing about unlikely friendships, especially amongst humans and animals, so there’s definitely a big market for such genre movies. But seeing them in an animated format and live action automatically gives the story a different feel. A fellow blogger asked me if she could bring her 4-year-old niece to it and my first instinct is that some of the darker scenes might be too scary for her. So yes, it’s still family entertainment, but it certainly has a big appeal to adults as well.

The fact that I don’t much remember the original story perhaps made me enjoy the movie more. Yet for the most part I think this remake stays true to Rudyard Kipling‘s written text. We’re first introduced to the man-cub Mowgli in an exhilarating chase through the jungle that immediately showcased the movie’s spectacular 3D visual prowess. I was immediately transported to the jungle as Mowgli is on the run. It turns out to be a training sequence as he’s being mentored by Bagheera the panther to be more like his wolf brothers he’s raised with. It also didn’t take long for the movie to introduce the villain, the tiger Shere Khan, who looks and sounds menacing, thanks to the deep & mesmerizing voice of Idris Elba.

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Neel Sethi, a 12-year-old kid of Indian descent who lives in NYC is perfectly cast as Mowgli. He may not have the acting experience for some of the dramatic scenes, but still convincing in the role and made me feel for his character. Besides, he’s surrounded by top-notch voice cast, some are acting legends like Ben Kingsley who provided the voice of Bagheera. But the scene stealer is Baloo, voiced by the inimitable Bill Murray. As soon as Baloo enters the picture, the movie’s entertainment quotient goes up a few notches. I love how he cajoled Mowgli to get his supply of honey and convinces him to stay in the jungle (instead of going to the man village) after discovering the kid’s resourceful-ness. It’s certainly one of the most fun pairing of human/animal since Hiccup and Toothless in the animated feature How To Train Your Dragon.

Scarlett Johansson‘sperfectly cast as the seductive snake Kaa. It’s a brief scene but a pretty memorable one. Christopher Walken, whose distinct speaking voice is endlessly entertaining, is fun to watch as the 10-foot-tall Gigantopithecus aptly-named King Louie. So instead of an orangutan, we’ve got this gigantic ape whose face is made to resemble Walken a bit and he got to sing a bit as well. The scenes with King Louie in his *temple* is one of the most action-packed in the film, but there are no shortage of action in this movie. Which takes me to the phenomenal visuals. From the opening sequence down to the fiery finale between Mowgli and Shere Khan, this film surely sets the bar high for live-action CGI movies. I think the last time I was truly in awe by a film’s 3D visuals was Avatar back in 2009. The way the animals look so realistic, and the excruciating details of the forest Mowgli lives in is breathtaking to behold. It’s an immersive experience as it felt as if you could smell and touch the lush trees in the jungle!

But it’s also nice that the movie isn’t just all style-over-substance. It’s a testament to how wonderful the original story is, but director Jon Favreau and screenwriter Justin Marks made the classic tale come alive again and feels new. Even the musical numbers were fun and not at all distracting or annoying, which is another pleasant surprise. I find Mowgli’s journey quite moving and I really do love all the characters. Favreau is definitely a force to be reckoned with, which seems relatively under the radar compared to say, Zack Snyder, but he churns in good work far more consistently. The first Iron Man was utterly entertaining and Elf is practically a Christmas classic. But even his smaller fare like Chef (in which he starred in) is an indie gem.

The Jungle Book is another huge hit for Disney. It’s nice that a behemoth movie (with $175 mil budget) is also massively entertaining, so I think its success is well-deserved. I don’t even mind seeing this again in IMAX as I much prefer seeing it in a larger screen with great sound than in 3D. Pure escapism stuff that Disney’s known for and the colossal studio delivered once again.

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Truth be told, this is one superhero film this year I wasn’t really looking forward to. I mean I LOVE the first film, and I didn’t even hate the second one even with its set of flaws. But I guess I’m just a bit worn out with the character of Tony Stark himself, his snarky cool edge that was so fun to watch before is just getting stale. But thanks to writer/director Shane Black, somehow he manages to win me over with his direction style. Here are just some things he did right:

1. Black and co-screenwriter Drew Pearce came up with a thrilling storythat doesn’t dwell too much on the rich-billionaire syndrome. I mean we’ve seen all that, so no need to keep rehashing that fact. We see the frivolous party-animal part of Tony Stark in a flashback at the beginning, but shortly after that, he’s plucked out of his elements. It’s a fish-out-of-water story of sort, as Tony ends up being stranded in a snowy small town in Tennesse.

Shane Black on the set with RDJ

2.The burning question for this particular superhero, perhaps more so than any other Marvel superhero is this: Does the suit make the man or the man made the suit? In the Film School Rejects interview Shane Black and exec. producer Kevin Feige, the interviewer said, “…you seem as interested in having Tony out of the Iron Man armor as in it”. Here’s Black’s answer:

I want the Iron Man stuff to have impact. And if he’s always in the suit doing stuff, it doesn’t have any impact. If every once in a while he gets just a piece of the suit and POW! he launches a bolt and somebody goes flying 20 feet through the air, but it burns him to do it, that has impact.

I think that’s a wise move right from the get go, having such a strong vision for the character and make him the primary focus once again. I think Black succeeds in creating that delicate balance of seeing both persona of Tony Stark, making the most of Robert Downey Jr.‘s undeniable screen charisma that seems to only get better with age.

Now, THAT’s the money shot

3. Going back to basics… but somehow makes the old feels new again. The reason I like the first film was because we see Tony as a real genius who’s seemingly thrive under even the most desperate circumstances with his ability to build something out of nothing. We see that MacGyver side of Tony here, how he somehow can still rise to the occasion outside of his state-of-the-art lab and without his loyal robotic butler Jarvis. Tony Stark actually has to shop at a Home Depot type of store like the rest of us, ahah. The ‘relationship’ between the hero and his Iron suit gets an even more amusing play here, which seems even more hilarious than ever before.

4.Shane Black is no stranger to buddy action-comedies. After all, he was the writer behind the Mel Gibson/Danny Glover action franchise Lethal Weapon. He’s also worked with RDJ in the wacky thriller-comedy Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, where RDJ and Val Kilmer made a droll and quirky pair.

Here RDJ still has a great rapport with General Rhodes (Don Cheadle), that whole bit about War Machine having a more nationalistic name Iron Patriot delivers some laughs. But when Rhodes is not always around to swap snarky banters with, Black cast a precocious whiz boy (Ty Simpkins) as his sparring partner. The 11-year-old Simpkins is able to hold his own against the veteran actor, and their banter is fun to watch. I love how Tony is still being Tony regardless who he’s dealing with, not allowing anyone—no matter how old—to wallow in self-pity, including himself. It was an unlikely duo that works in the story.

5. Surprising twist on the villain that I didn’t see coming. Having a more realistic ‘real world’ adversary with the terrorism angle works well here instead of simply having another suited-armor nemesis. But there’s more than meets the eye here about the eccentric psychopath The Mandarin that still hit me out of left field. I think comic readers might not necessarily appreciate the alteration but I consider it to be a pleasant surprise that’s sooo entertainingly zany.

Perfect casting of Sir Ben Kingsleyin that role, stealing scenes whenever he appears on-screen. The scene of him, Stark and Rhodes is definitely one of the major highlights, but the less I say about the character the better for the sake of your viewing enjoyment.

6. Guy Pearce looking cool and hunky for a change, instead of looking like 200 years old (Prometheus) or some follicly challenged gangster (Lawless). He’s not the kind of villain that takes himself too seriously, Aldrich Killian is a pretty cool name and Pearce plays him as a charming baddie that could easily match Downey’s quick wits. There’s a scene towards the finale that somehow reminds me of his breakthrough role in Memento, I don’t think it’s an homage or anything, it’s just something I picked up on. Pearce seems to have had a good time filming this and it shows!

7. Fun action set pieces but yet they’re not just some over-the-top and vapid bombastic shoot-em-ups (*cough* Die Hard 5 * cough*). The most memorable one, that you’ve likely seen in the trailer, is the relentless attack on Tony’s Malibu mansion. I remember marveling at that sprawling beach-front property in the first movie, and seeing it being destroyed to bits was wow, I’ve got to admit my heart sank a bit as I watched it.

The eye-popping special effects are to be expected. I still enjoy watching our armored hero shooting off to the sky, but this time, the flying sequence isn’t so much about Iron Man looking hip and cool on the air, but more about what he can do with that gift. Ultimately, it’s Tony’s sharp thinking that does the saving, not simply the power of that suit itself.

8. Robert Downey Jr.’s consistent dedication to the roleis one of the main factors the franchise hasn’t lost its juice. Everything we’ve come to know and love about the character is all there, Tony’s flair for the theatrics, his nerdy obsession with his robotic toys, and his snarky prowess is still firing on all cylinders. Yet somehow under Black’s direction, it feels fresh, sprightly, and endearingly self-deprecating. I think the key here is showing the character’s vulnerability and contrast that with his larger-than-life billionaire antics.

There are countless hysterical scenes where things don’t go according to plan for Tony. Even in the moment he needs it most, his invention can still let him down, and that sense that our hero isn’t always so invincible makes him more human, and in some ways more relatable.

9.But also not ‘too relatable’ as we go to see a superhero movies for escapist entertainment. Iron Man 3 is by no means a dark and gloomy affair (I don’t know why some reviewers equate this with The Dark Knight) as I don’t think it would fit the essence of Tony Stark if they go that route. There are dark moments to be sure, but the mirthful tone is intact and plenty of geeky gadgetry to keep the superhero geek massively entertained. Black & co. never forgets that at its heart, Marvel superhero movies are popcorn entertainment and on that front, it certainly delivers!

10. The returning characters are given a bit more to do here. Retiring from directing duties (but still serves as exec. producer), Jon Favreau is quite amusing as the head of security of Stark Industries. I wish Rebecca Hall has more screen time but still, it’s nice to see her here alongside Gwyneth Paltrow (who’s not even the most beautiful woman in this movie, let alone the world, heh). That said, I kind of like that Stark’s love interest is not just a damsel in distress in this one which makes Pepper Potts a bit more interesting than in the previous installments.

Perhaps having a tepid expectations helps me enjoy this more than I otherwise would, as the movie is definitely not without flaws. Just to name a few, the motivation of the super-villain’s descent to madness is too much of a stretch and the loud clanging and bombastic mayhem of the third act can be quite dizzying. But overall, those who haven’t become too cynical or jaded by superhero movies would be hard pressed not to enjoy this one.

Though the iron suit sometimes run out of juice in this movie, thankfully the Iron Man franchise still has plenty of that in its third installment. I wouldn’t rate this as high as other stellar “threequels” like the Bourne Ultimatum, Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade, or Toy Story 3, but it’s certainly a solid addition to the lucrative Marvel canon.

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Battle: Los Angeles

If there’s ever a competition for most clichés piled up in one movie, Battle Los Angeles is the clear winner.

The film is about a group of soldiers battle against the faceless, I mean that literally, alien invaders who are destroying every major city in the world. Marine Staff Sergeant Nantz (Aaron Eckhart), who was about to retire, got reassigned to a new platoon which mission is to go rescue some civilians trapped at a police station within the alien territory. They have three hours to complete the mission before the area is blown to pieces by the Air Force. It’s part Black Hawk Down, part Independence Day (ID4). But the main difference is, Black Hawk Down was a very good film and ID4 was a lot of fun. Battle: LA on the other hand was neither… it’s actually painful to sit through. It’s full of laughable dialogue and took itself way too seriously.

When the film opened in theater back in March of this year, it received tons of bad reviews and I thought maybe the critics were expecting too much out of it. I decided the rent it and thought I’d probably enjoy the non-stop action sequences and that’s all I was hoping for. Boy was I wrong. Not only was the film so badly-written, but it’s chock full of clichés from other films that I could accurately predict what would happen next. For example, there’s a scene in the film where a soldier thought he killed an alien and decided to walk towards it and a second later, the alien jumped back alive. I thought to myself, ‘seriously, the filmmakers thought THAT was clever?’ It’s been done so many times in other films with far better results. In every alien invasion films, there must be a scene where the human gets to dissect the alien to find out how to kill it. What do you know, we see that exact scene in this film. Of course they need to have some sort of a doctor who can assist our soldiers on how to dissect the alien. As it turns out, one of the civilians happens to be a veterinarian and offered her professional opinion on how to kill the damn aliens.

Believe it or not, the clichés are not the only awful thing in this film. It’s also badly-directed by Jonathan Liebesman, who was responsible for the awful remake of Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Liebesman and his cinematographer decided to make the audience dizzy by not holding the camera steady for more than two seconds long. Seriously, I almost turn off the movie after 30 minutes in because I felt nauseous from the constant hand-held shaky cam! I understand he wanted the audience to be part of the action. But if that technique is making the viewers sick, how’s that supposed to be a good thing?

The main reason I wanted to see this film was for the big action set pieces but unfortunately, Liebesman failed on that front, too. I couldn’t tell what the heck was going on during the battle sequences. Again, if he and his cinematographer would hold the camera still for like ONE minute, it would have been at least cool to see the action.

As you can tell, I despise this movie, the only good thing about it is the Blu-ray disc is quite stunning visually and the lossless surround sound is top notch. If you want to show off your home theater system, this is one of the movies to do so. Otherwise, it’s a waste of your time and money. Only give it a rent if want to see how good the disc look and sound.

1 out of 5 reels

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Cowboys & Aliens

Cowboys & Aliens was my most anticipated film this summer. Unfortunately, it turns out to be quite a letdown when I finally saw it a week ago. The film got a lot of negative reviews when it opened back in July 29th but I didn’t read any of them since I really wanted to see it. Well, after I saw it and then I read the reviews, I realize most of the critics were right. It’s definitely one of the most disappointing summer flicks I’ve ever seen since X-Men Origins: Wolverine back in 2009.

The film opened with a man (Daniel Craig) waking up in a desert. He has no memory of who he is or where he came from. He also has mysterious metal bracelet around his left arm. Then he met three bounty hunters whom he dispatched with no problems whatsoever. With introduction like this, we know this stranger is a dangerous man.

He then makes his way to a town called Absolution, where we’re introduced to a few more characters, including Colonel Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford), local bar owner Doc (Sam Rockwell), the sheriff (Keith Carradine), a mysterious woman name Ella (Olivia Wilde) and Dolarhyde’s son Percy (Paul Dano). Just few minutes after the stranger arrived in town, we found out that he’s wanted man and his name is Jake Lonergan. That’s the basic set up of the film. But before long, alien space ships started showing up, blowing up the town and snatching people up into their ships. So Lonergan and Dolarhyde decided to team up and rescue the town’s people. In the meantime, Jake keeps having flashbacks of what happened to him, very similar to the Jason Bourne films. The film has no plot and for the rest of the run time.

I actually enjoyed the first half hour of this film, but after the aliens showed up, it went downhill from there. I didn’t really care for any of the characters and while the action sequences were well-done, it’s something we’ve all seen before in other sci-fi action flicks. For a film that cost $160mil to make, I thought the production design looked cheap and the scope of the film were quite small. I expected to see more alien space ships flying around attacking the cowboys but it never happened. I was also surprised how many cliché scenes were in the film, whatever you think will happen in the next scene, it happened. There were 8 writers, I say again, eight writers credited in this film. Obviously the script went through several revisions before they started shooting but I couldn’t stop thinking to myself, eight writers and this is the best they could come up with?

Director Jon Favreau did a good job paying homage to some of the great westerns from the past including The Man with No Name Trilogy, Once Upon the Time in the West, The Searchers and The Outlaw Josey Wales. Unfortunately, with a weak script, there’s not much he could do except adding one clichéd scenes after another. Performance wise, Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford are pretty good in their respective roles. It’s too bad Sam Rockwell and Olivia Wilde don’t have much to do but being part of the gang. Rockwell is the comic relief and Wilde is the love interest of Craig’s character.

Now, I don’t hate this film as much as the other alien invasion film that came out earlier this year, Battle: LA (as you can see in my review above). But this one sure is a big disappointment to me. With a great cast like this and a decent director, I thought for sure the film would’ve been a fun Summer ride, not one that’s full of boring dialogue and by-the-number action set pieces. One critic pointed out that had the film been more of a comedy in the vein of Men In Black, it would’ve worked better. I tend to agree with that sentiment. Maybe a straight up western/sci-fi just doesn’t work, especially with a weak script like this one.

Perhaps another reason why I didn’t like this film as much was because I saw it at a AMC digital theater where they didn’t remove the 3D lens. The picture looked dim and flat, during the night scenes I couldn’t make out what the heck was going on. So be warned, if you’re going to see this movie at your local AMC, make sure you see it in the non digital theater. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, please read this article. It’s another reason why I hate 3D, it’s ruining our movie going experience.

2 out of 5 reels

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Well have you seen either one of these movies, yet? If so, did you like ’em or were you disappointed as much as I was?

Hello I’m Ruth!

Film is in my blood. LOVE movies of all genres, from Jane Austen to James Bond. Official blogger for the Twin Cities Film Fest (TCFF). I’ve wrote and produced my first short film » HEARTS WANT in 2017 and currently working on developing the full story as a feature film.